Page 209 - Supplemento 2-2016 (ENG)

Tackling Environmental Crime throUgh standardized Methodologies

In addition to police cooperation bodies, there are other bodies whose
actions are proving to be increasingly incisive. An example is IMPEL, which is
particularly active in exchanging best practices and information, ordinarily of a
non-investigative nature.

Also in IMPEL the Italian State Forestry Department functions as a refe-
rent for the issues of waste and the safeguarding of birdlife. For the latter, for
instance, in a few days a panel of European experts will meet the Forestry
Department to examine in its broadest sense the phenomenon of poaching of
migratory wildlife in the straits of Messina.

UNICRI is another body falling under the aegis of the United Nations,
which operates also in the environmental and food farming sectors, paying par-
ticular attention on the issues of waste and counterfeiting. We would like to
mention specifically their commitment to the fight against the Waste of
Electric and Electronic Equipment, which is constantly increasing also because
of price developments in some raw materials, particularly rare earth elements.

The international cooperation of police forces is essential for another rea-
son as well: the close link between environmental and financial crimes, also
considering the amount of money deriving from trafficking that is necessary to
finance corruption, which further facilitates crimes in this area: by now the pur-
suit of financial and corruption crimes in the most important investigations is
a matter of routine and often involves cross border issues. In the next few days
a conference about this close link will take place at EUROPOL in The Hague
and this confirms the topicality and relevance of the problem.

Part 2
Now I would like to turn your attention to the most significant actions for
the safeguarding of the environment conducted in Italy by the State Forestry
Department. As already mentioned, the dynamics contributing to the growth
of environmental criminality are a problem of European and global scale.
For instance, regards the trafficking of waste and pollution, the criminal
world operating in the environmental context is interconnected with a series of
other aspects which determine a severe threat to our security and to food safety
in general.

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